Music Department Receives Largest Gift to Date PRO grand piano in mint ... in northern California....
1
2 3 The South Dakota School of Mines Music Program was recently gifted a unique collection of musical instruments and equipment from alumnus Paul J. Rafter (EE 80). Rafter’s recent donation to the university includes multiple valuable, investment-quality musical instruments including numerous vintage guitars, organs and a beautiful Yamaha Mark IV Disklavier PRO grand piano in mint condition. The piano is commonly found in major recording studios. Some of the instruments will be sold with the proceeds going toward the music department at Mines, and other instruments including Rafter’s first professional gig rig, the 1967 Fender bass and Standel amp, will be kept for student use. “The School of Mines gave me so much opportunity, and I wanted to do something in return, especially for the students,” Rafter said. Rafter grew up in Troy, N.Y. During his sophomore year in high school, he received an electric bass guitar and joined a band with other students at his high school. After Rafter graduated high school in 1967, his only aspiration was to continue playing music. He played professionally for eight years. His bands performed all throughout the northeast. They even recorded some original songs, one written by Rafter himself, which got local radio airplay. The highlight of his career while playing professionally was when his band was the opening act for the then very popular Vanilla Fudge. The bassist for Vanilla Fudge, Tim Bogert, was Rafter’s idol. Getting the opportunity at age 19 to open for the Fudge, meet the band and swap basses backstage with Bogert was something Rafter would never forget. Eventually Rafter realized that he could not be a professional musician forever, and that he needed to further his education. At the age of 25, Rafter sold all of his music equipment to fund his first year of college. Starting in 1975, Rafter attended a two-year college in Troy majoring in electrical engineering technology. He had been out of school for many years, and he said the first quiz he took at the college received an F as a grade. “I took the failed quiz home and put it on my wall so that every day I reminded myself that I had sold my business, there was no going back, I had to make this school thing work,” Rafter stated. After graduating in the summer of 1977 with his electrical engineering technology degree, Rafter packed up everything he owned and headed west for the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He knew a woman attending college at Mines and Music Department Receives Largest Gift to Date she described it as a low cost, highly respected institution, so he thought he would give it a try. He contacted the head of the electrical engineering department at the time, Lyle Feisel, Ph.D. “He accepted me into his program,” said Rafter. “At that moment, my life changed forever for the better.” Rafter met with Bill Jones, the director of financial aid, who helped him apply for financial aid and got him a summer job as a counselor at the Rapid City Girls Club. With the help of scholarships, grants, federal loans and by working part-time Rafter was able to earn his electrical engineering degree at Mines. He worked as much as he could during the semesters and spent his summers working full time doing design work for General Electric in New York and for IBM in Arizona. During his time at Mines, Rafter was a member of the Photography Club. He took photos for the school’s newspaper and yearbook, and was the manager of its photography department his last year of school. While attending the university, there wasn’t a well- developed music program like there is now. “I think it is truly great what Dr. Feiszli is doing with the music program at Mines,” Rafter stated. After graduating with his electrical engineering degree from Mines, Rafter made his way to Silicon Valley, Calif. He was hired by Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) as a sales representative selling computers to engineers. He worked as a sales rep for eight years and became the number one sales rep for his product line in northern California. He then started attending night school to earn his MBA in marketing and became a product manager for HP for the next 10 years, then a software design engineer in the hardware support division for the next three years. He often traveled throughout the U.S. and to Europe visiting England, France and Switzerland. The traveling was hard on his health so he later took on the role of writing code for the company’s internal applications. After 21 years with HP, Rafter left the business. He began playing music again and performed with a couple of bands but ended up retiring shortly after because of his health. Rafter has read all of the Hardrock magazines and the Foundation Update newspapers and saw several articles on the music program at Mines and thought the school needed to add some rock n’ roll to its program. Rafter contacted the SDSM&T Foundation to explore his options on gifting to the university. He decided to donate all of his guitars, organs, amps and piano to the SD Mines music program. Music Director James Feiszli, Ph.D., noted, “The donation of rare and valuable Mines incoming junior Jake Swanson admiring the Paul J. Rafter music collection Cover photo: Yamaha Mark IV Disklavier PRO grand piano, part of the Paul J. Rafter music collection The Edge, from the band U2 , with the custom finished Les Paul he signed Jimmy Page, from the band Led Zeppelin, with the Les Paul he signed musical instruments to SDSM&T Music by Paul J. Rafter is to date the single most significant gift to the music program in my thirty years at the institution. These instruments will have a huge impact on future generations of SDSM&T students in terms of both development and education. I see Paul’s gift as a testament to the impact that music can have on one’s life regardless of career path,” Feiszli said. “While I played rock for a living for a while, I have since childhood always listened to all kinds of music, classical being a favorite. Not everybody can play classical or jazz or sing in an a cappella choir, but many people can play rock and other forms of mainstream music. I hope the gifts of my instruments will allow more students to get involved playing some of everything. That would make me happy,” Rafter said. The piano donated by Rafter was played by a student in the Spring Choral Concert at the Music Center on April 24. When the students are back in the fall, they will be delighted to have a whole new array of musical instruments available for them to use to rock out. “When I think of Mines, I think about the great experience I had and the chance they gave me. I hope my gift will help urge all students to be thankful of their experiences and in return want to give in the future to their favorite causes. I also hope they take this opportunity to rock,” Rafter stated. The collection of over 40 guitars gifted by Rafter includes No.19 of 25 Les Pauls played, approved, hand numbered and signed by Jimmy Page from the band Led Zeppelin; one of fourteen custom finished Les Pauls signed by the Edge from the band U2; and several signature and limited edition electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses and amplifiers. Don Lerdal, vintage musical instrument dealer who viewed the collection said, “I truly was and continue to be absolutely stunned and a bit overwhelmed by the generosity of this man. To me, the spirit behind this donation is far more than the monetary value. That is what impressed me the most. The Hammond organ 1963 B-3 setup is probably among the best anywhere in the world. The guitar amps are in amazing condition. The guitars are all just superb. Among this collection are several very limited production instruments that will never be available again. It’s humbling to be the caretaker of this collection.” While most items are recently manufactured, many are vintage dating as far back as 1935. The collection is being held in a secured location off campus until such time that they can be sold. For those interested in purchasing an instrument, please email Don Lerdal at [email protected]. The School of Mines is very thankful to Rafter and his generous donation of the music instruments. Paul J. Rafter
Transcript of Music Department Receives Largest Gift to Date PRO grand piano in mint ... in northern California....
2 3
The South Dakota School of Mines Music Program was recently gifted a unique collection of musical instruments and equipment from alumnus Paul J. Rafter (EE 80). Rafter’s recent donation to the university includes multiple valuable, investment-quality musical instruments including numerous vintage guitars, organs and a beautiful Yamaha Mark IV Disklavier PRO grand piano in mint condition. The piano is commonly found in major recording studios.
Some of the instruments will be sold with the proceeds going toward the music department at Mines, and other instruments including Rafter’s first professional gig rig, the 1967 Fender bass and Standel amp, will be kept for student use.
“The School of Mines gave me so much opportunity, and I wanted to do something in return, especially for the students,” Rafter said.
Rafter grew up in Troy, N.Y. During his sophomore year in high school, he received an electric bass guitar and joined a band with other students at his high school. After Rafter graduated high school in 1967, his only aspiration was to continue playing music. He played professionally for eight years. His bands performed all throughout the northeast. They even recorded some original songs, one written by Rafter himself, which got local radio airplay. The highlight of his career while playing professionally was when his band was the opening act for the then very popular Vanilla Fudge. The bassist for Vanilla Fudge, Tim Bogert, was Rafter ’s idol. Getting the opportunity at age 19 to open for the Fudge, meet the band and swap basses backstage with Bogert was something Rafter would never forget.
Eventually Rafter realized that he could not be a professional musician forever, and that he needed to further his education. At the age of 25, Rafter sold all of his music equipment to fund his first year of college.
Starting in 1975, Rafter attended a two-year college in Troy majoring in electrical engineering technology. He had been out of school for many years, and he said the first quiz he took at the college received an F as a grade. “I took
the failed quiz home and put it on my wall so that every day I reminded myself that I had sold my business, there was no going back, I had to make this school thing work,” Rafter stated.
After graduating in the summer of 1977 with his electrical engineering technology degree, Rafter packed up everything he owned and headed west for the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He knew a woman attending college at Mines and
Music Department Receives Largest Gift to Date
she described it as a low cost, highly respected institution, so he thought he would give it a try. He contacted the head of the electrical engineering department at the time, Lyle Feisel, Ph.D. “He accepted me into his program,” said Rafter. “At that moment, my life changed forever for the better.”
Rafter met with Bill Jones, the director of financial aid, who helped him apply for financial aid and got him a summer job as a counselor at the Rapid City Girls
Club. With the help of scholarships, grants, federal loans and by working part-time Rafter was able to earn his electrical engineering degree at Mines. He worked as much as he could during the semesters and spent his summers working full time doing design work for General Electric in New York and for IBM in Arizona.
During his time at Mines, Rafter was a member of the Photography Club. He took photos for the school’s newspaper and yearbook,
and was the manager of its photography department his last year of school. While attending the university, there wasn’t a well-developed music program like there is now. “I think it is truly great what Dr. Feiszli is doing with the music program at Mines,” Rafter stated.
After graduating with his electrical engineering degree from Mines, Rafter made his way to Silicon Valley, Calif. He was hired by Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) as a sales representative selling computers to engineers. He worked as a sales rep for eight years and became the number one sales rep for his product line in northern California. He then started attending night school to earn his MBA in marketing and became a product manager for HP for the next 10 years, then a software design engineer in the hardware support division for the next three years. He often traveled throughout the U.S. and to Europe visiting England, France and Switzerland. The traveling was hard on his health so he later took on the role of writing code for the company’s internal applications.
After 21 years with HP, Rafter left the business. He began playing music again and performed with a couple of bands but ended up retiring shortly after because of his health. Rafter has read all of the Hardrock magazines and the Foundation Update newspapers and saw several articles on the music program at Mines and thought the school needed to add some rock n’ roll to its program. Rafter contacted the SDSM&T Foundation to explore his options on gifting to the university. He decided to donate all of his guitars, organs, amps and piano to the SD Mines music program. Music Director James Feiszli, Ph.D., noted, “The donation of rare and valuable
Mines incoming junior Jake Swanson admiring the Paul J. Rafter music collection
Cover photo: Yamaha Mark IV Disklavier PRO grand piano, part of the Paul J. Rafter music collection The Edge, from the band U2 , with the custom finished Les Paul he signed
Jimmy Page, from the band Led Zeppelin, with the Les Paul he signed
musical instruments to SDSM&T Music by Paul J. Rafter is to date the single most significant gift to the music program in my thirty years at the institution. These instruments will have a huge impact on future generations of SDSM&T students in terms of both development and education. I see Paul’s gift as a testament to the impact that music can have on one’s life regardless of career path,” Feiszli said.
“While I played rock for a living for a while, I have since childhood always listened to all kinds of music, classical being a favorite. Not everybody can play classical or jazz or sing in an a cappella choir, but many people can play rock and other forms of mainstream music. I hope the gifts of my instruments will allow more students to get involved playing some of everything. That would make me happy,” Rafter said.
The piano donated by Rafter was played by a student in the Spring Choral Concert at the Music Center on April 24. When the students are back in the fall, they will be delighted to have a whole new array of musical instruments available for them to use to rock out. “When I think of Mines, I think about the great experience I had and the chance they gave me. I hope my gift will help urge all students to be thankful of their experiences and in return want to give in the future to their favorite causes. I also hope they take this opportunity to rock,” Rafter stated.
The collection of over 40 guitars gifted by Rafter includes No.19 of 25 Les Pauls played, approved, hand numbered and signed by Jimmy Page from the band Led Zeppelin; one of fourteen custom finished Les Pauls signed by the Edge from the band U2; and several signature and limited edition electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses and amplifiers. Don Lerdal, vintage musical instrument dealer who viewed the collection said, “I truly was and continue to be absolutely stunned and a bit overwhelmed by the generosity of this man. To me, the spirit behind this donation is far more than the monetary value. That is what impressed me the most. The Hammond organ 1963 B-3 setup is probably among the best anywhere in the world. The guitar amps are in amazing condition. The guitars are all just superb. Among this collection are several very limited production instruments that will never be available again. It’s humbling to be the caretaker of this collection.” While most items are recently manufactured, many are vintage dating as far back as 1935. The collection is being held in a secured location off campus until such time that they can be sold. For those interested in purchasing an instrument, please email Don Lerdal at [email protected].
The School of Mines is very thankful to Rafter and his generous donation of the music instruments.
Paul J. Rafter
